Sunday, January 11, 2009

Satyam sidelights

Satyam continues to entertain us. GOI is keen that the would-be Directors should not be constrained by conflict of interest. Attempts are being made to exclude people like M.Damodaran (a Director in Tech Mahindra, a former SEBI chief noted for no-nonsense behaviour) and Jerry Rao. We will end up with Directors who are ignorant about software. Government's understanding of corporate governance will bankrupt the company as much as Raju's malpractices.Krishna Palepu was also a Director in Global Trust(!) Bank which went bust due to Ramesh Gelli's misdemeanour. Dr.Reddy's has requested Palepu to do the company a favour by resigning his Directorship. The company is anxious not to join the holy company of Satyam and Trust.Would the Professor oblige? Dr.Reddy's looks safe as of now because it does not sport qualities like satyam and trust in its name.It has been reported that M.Rammohan Rao is a mathematician who is innocent about Balance Sheet and its variants.A square peg in a round hole? Contrast him with T.R.Tuli who was CEO of PNB during Sanjay Gandhi's heydays, the Emergency.Tuli was a high-school drop-out.When Justice Shah Commission asked him if he could read Balance sheets, his earthy reply was he could read customers which competence, in his view, was more important for a bank chief.